Bernard Warburton-Lee
|branch= |serviceyears=1908-1940 |rank=Captain |commands=HMS Tuscan (28 Nov 1924 - Jan 1925) [[HMS Walpole (D41)|HMS Walpole]] (30 Mar 1926 - July 1927) [[HMS Vanessa (D29)|HMS Vanessa]] (9 Apr 1928 - Apr 1930) [[HMS Bryony (1917)|HMS Bryony]] (7 Apr 1933 - Jan 1934) [[HMS Witch (D89)|HMS Witch]] (17 Dec 1934 - Feb 1936) Flag Captain, [[HMS Effingham (D98)|HMS Effingham]] & Chief of Staff to Vice-Admiral Commanding Reserve Fleet (14 Feb 1938 Apr 1939) [[HMS Hardy (1936)|HMS Hardy]] (28 Jul 1939 – 10 Apr 1940) & Captain (D) 3rd Destroyer Flotilla (from Aug 1939; 2nd Destroyer Flotilla) |battles='World War I' World War II - Narvik |awards=Royal Navy Officers 1939-1945Mentioned in Despatches (11 Dec 1918) Victoria Cross (7 Jun 1940 posthumous) Norwegian War Cross (19 Oct 1942 posthumous) }} Captain Bernard Armitage Warburton Warburton-Lee VC (13 September 1895 – 10 April 1940) was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Spanish Civil War In 1936 due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, and because there was fear of social unrest in the naval station, the Foreign Office in London, organized a ship to repatriate all the remaining British citizens and on 22 July 1936 [[HMS Witch (D89)|HMS Witch]], captained by B.A. Warburton-Lee, departed from Ferrol in northwestern Spain back to Britain.BBC history World War II Warburton-Lee was 44 years old, and a captain in the Royal Navy during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 10 April 1940 in Ofotfjord, Narvik, Norway, in the First Battle of Narvik Captain Warburton-Lee of [[HMS Hardy (1936)|HMS Hardy]] commanded the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla consisting of five destroyers (HMS Hardy, ''Havock'', ''Hostile'', ''Hotspur'' and ''Hunter'') in a surprise attack on German destroyers and merchant ships in a blinding snowstorm. This was successful, and was almost immediately followed by an engagement with five more German destroyers, during which Captain Warburton-Lee was mortally wounded by a shell which hit Hardy's bridge. For his exploits in this engagement he was awarded Britain's highest decoration for valour in combat, the Victoria Cross, posthumously. During World War II, only 23 Victoria Crosses were awarded to members of the Royal Navy and Royal Naval Reserve, and of those only approximately 11 survived. In 1942 he was also awarded the Norwegian War Cross. VC citation Bernard Warburton-Lee's VC citation reads as follows: This was the first VC to be gazetted in the Second World War. Capt.Warburton-Lee married on 9 October 1924, Elizabeth Campbell Swinton, the daughter of Capt. George Swinton of Kimmerghame (see Clan Swinton). References *British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997) *Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) *The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) External links * CWGC entry Category:1895 births Category:1940 deaths Category:Royal Navy officers Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II Category:British military personnel killed in World War II Category:Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:People from Wrexham Category:British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I Category:Recipients of the War Cross (Norway)